Introduction to Sociology

TRY IT

3. 
   Which statement provides the best operational definition of “childhood obesity”?
   
   1. 
      A distressing trend that can lead to health issues including type 2 diabetes and heart disease
      
   2. 
      The tendence of children today to weigh more than children of earlier generations
      
   3. 
      Children who eat unhealthy foods and spend too much time watching television and playing video games
      
   4. 
      Body weight at least 20 percent higher than a health weight for a child of that height
      

4. 
   Sociological studies test relationships in which change in one __________ causes change in another.
   
   1. 
      Test subject
      
   2. 
      Operational definition
      
   3. 
      Behavior
      
   4. 
      Variable
      
5. 
   In a study, a group of ten-year-old boys are fed doughnuts every morning for a week and then weighed to see how much weight they gained. Which factor is the dependent variable?
   
   1. 
      The doughnuts
      
   2. 
      The boys
      
   3. 
      The weight gained
      
   4. 
      The duration of a week
      

Check your answers at the end of this document

THINK IT OVER

Sociology is a broad discipline covering many topics. Think about something that interests you and/or relates to your experience or your life. As a college student, you operate within a social world ripe for research! 

• 
  From competitive sports teams to fraternities or sororities to ROTC to intramural sports and student clubs, there are a plethora of groups on college campuses that would make good topics of study. 
  
• 
  The proverbial college experience is different based on one’s statuses, particularly minority statuses, such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and social class. 
  
• 
  Consider your college’s relationship to the surrounding community and that community’s relationship with the state and/or country. 
  

If you were to formulate a research question and do some preliminary research on these topics, you would likely find that there have been sociological studies conducted on many of these topics. Furthermore, you would find statistical information about student groups and participation, student demographics, and community demographics.
What value does this type of research have for understanding individuals, groups, and communities?